Classic 70s and 80s Fantasy Book Covers - Elidor
I love the cover of this edition of Alan Garner's classic 'Elidor'. The image of a boy in a parker jacket (identical to mine and countless others in playgrounds across the land at the time), with a spear in his hand, blew me away. Add to that, the rather Anglo-Saxon looking warrior, standing stones and castle, it promised so much richness, and sums up everything I adore in fantasy stories that overlap with our own world.
There's something very sombre about the image too, with it's broad and bruised skyline, reflecting the tone of the book.
Nowadays, this would be called 'Young Adult' fantasy, bridging the gap from children's books to adults, but back in the day, this felt more grown up to me, and the cover sold this beautifully.
I've included the full artwork image, by illustrator Stephen Lavis, as it's beautiful, and one of my favourites of the Narnia / Garner covers he contributed to Lion in the 70s/80s.
Classic book, classic cover.
Oh wow, seeing these Elidor covers immediately took me back to my childhood library! I remember being about ten years old and utterly captivated by these exact illustrations. There was one in particular, I can't quite recall the title now, but it had this incredible depiction of a city perched on impossible cliffs, with a lone figure silhouetted against a stormy sky. I must have checked that book out at least a dozen times, just poring over the artwork https://dth.nt.gov.au/boards-and-committees/racing-commission It felt so mysterious and epic, a portal to a completely different world. These designs really had a way of igniting the imagination, didn't they? They made you *want* to believe in magic and adventure. It’s funny how a single…
I stumbled upon this blog and I'm glad I did https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_design The quality of writing and the depth of analysis is impressive. It is worth going through check this out before settling on anything. Will definitely explore more of your posts.
Read also: https://oer.unair.ac.id/items/show/3505
Thank you for presenting these classic covers
My all time favourite book cover I think, so perfectly evocative of the feel of the book Stephen Lavis was a genius